Russian drones and missiles flew into Ukraine’s skies early Saturday morning and launched a massive air strike that appeared to target western Ukraine, including areas close to the border with NATO allies, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian Air Force said some missiles were flying toward the western Transcarpathia and Lviv regions, which border Nato members Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. The Polish Army said on social media that it had sent fighter jets to protect its southeastern territory in case missiles crossed the border, as has happened in the past.
The wave of attacks, targeting areas of the country so far less affected by the war, could add urgency to Ukraine’s recent calls for allies to help protect its western regions.
The Ukrainian air force reported launching an attack drone shortly after midnight on Saturday, followed by waves of missiles. Local officials said debris from a downed Russian drone sparked an infrastructure fire in the western region of Vinnitsa, and several explosions were heard in the southern city of Zaporozhye. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The extent of the damage from the attack remained unclear as of 6 a.m. local time. Ukraine’s energy minister said energy facilities in five regions had been targeted. Russia has launched a brutal crackdown on the country’s energy infrastructure in recent months, a move that appears aimed at cutting off power and making life miserable for civilians.
Ukrainian officials believe that if allies use their own aircraft and air defense systems to shoot down Russian missiles approaching their borders, it will ease the burden on Ukraine, which faces shortages of anti-aircraft ammunition and weapons.
“Technically, all this is possible. Shooting down a Russian missile from a plane that has entered Ukrainian territory,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The New York Times last week, noting that Ukraine’s West Neighboring countries have scrambled jets to protect their airspace during such attacks.
Analysts say such direct involvement by NATO could trigger Russian retaliation, but it has been resisted by U.S. and European governments. Now that Washington and other allies have agreed to partially lift a ban on Ukraine using Western weapons to attack Russian territory, Ukrainian officials may try to push their position further.
On Friday, Zelensky’s senior adviser Mikhailo Podolyak posted on the Telegram messaging app that if Ukraine’s western neighbors shot down Russian missiles from their territory, it would “allow Ukraine to use its scarce The anti-missile systems are concentrated in the east and south of the country,” which are under attack almost every day.
